Dreams of Cassiopeia
by Cassiopeiasdream
Summary: Cassie is a very weird kind of girl, but she doesn't really mind being like that. What kind of influence would this girl have on one of the most handsome boys in Hogwarts? (Basically my version of what could have happened during the marauder's era)
1. Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia was a weird girl. Ever since she was old enough to make her own choices she made the weirdest ones. She didn't care though, and always lived her life freely doing whatever suited her best. She was the kind of girl that wasn't fully superticious but still believed in the power of some things, like the zodiac's influence in people's personalities, or the color's meaning in our lives. That's why she carried some charms around in the form of necklaces, ear rings and bracelets. She didn't use rings thouh, because she thought they were uncomfortable. And she was also often discribled as a very colorfull girl, since she always had her nails painted as a rainbow, each nail a diferent color, for a diferent meaning, and her hair was also full of colorful highlighs. In the end, her apereance and her personality together made it dificult not to call her weird. Her mother didn't mind, she had a free soul and liked the fact that her daughter had a strong personality and she didn't care what others said, she just did whatever suited her best. But even so, a week before her daughter's eleventh birthday, when she received the letter of acceptance to hogwarts school of wizadry and witchcraft she couldn't help thinking: "Wasn't Cassie weird enough?".

* * *

 **Hello there, this is just a tiny intruduction to the story, mostly to the character. She is one of the best characters I've ever made up so I hope you like her too. I intend to post the first chapter as soon as possible, since it is almost ready. Anyway, feel free to coment your opinion and correct me if anything is wrong ;)**


	2. How to make friends

"CASSIE! TIME TO GO!" Julie, Cassie's mother screamed form down stairs.

"COMING MOM!" She screamed back, running down the stairs.

"You're gonna be late, what took you so long up there?"

"I was just making sure I didn't forget anything up there."

"Alright, where's Jinx? We gotta go now!" Her mother took the car keys and started rushing to the door.

"DANG IT!" Meanwhile Cassie ran to the living room where she had left her owl. "Sorry Jinx! Won't happen again" She said even though she knew it probably would.

During the whole time she was in the car, her mother kept saying sweet things and saying she would miss her, but she was too anxious to actually care, not that she wouldn't miss her mom, but she was thinking how awesome her new school would be. And she was hoping that in a magical school she would finally make a few friends, which would make her mother really happy, since she was always worried that her child's best and only friend, was her mother.

"Here we are sweetie, I'm sorry I have to leave you here, but I'm really late!"

"It's okay mom, I'll find the way. I love you!"

"Love you too! Take care, good luck and keep in touch!"

Her mother left and Cassie started walking around calling more attention than usual, since in adction to her apereance, she now had an owl, which wasn't a very common pet for a eleven year old kid. But she was already used to all the atention and just continued looking for platform 9 3/4. She had been there for a while when she was spotted by a kind wizard family who helped her make her way into the platform. When she arrived there she couldn't hold her head still, she was looking around like crazy. The fun fact was that she wasn't being noticed by anyone, it seemed like she was just another person in the crowd, and while she liked not being glared at, she was also kinda disappointed that no one was noticing her. That was when she decided that she would be the one to make her own friends, by starting a conversation. She entered the train and started to look for a compartment with an empty space, and finnaly she found one. The compartment only had one space open, and had two boys and a girl inside.

"Excuse me, may I sit there?" She asked pointing her finger at the empty spot.

"Sure!" Said one of the boys. "Want some help with that?" He pointed at her luggage.

"That would be nice, thanks"

"No problem" the boy lifted the bag and they both sat down.

"Well then, I'm Cassiopeia, but you can call me Cassie!" She said smiling to everyone around to look as friendly as possible to them, and then gave them an inquiring look, as if she was asking for them to introduce themselves as well.

"I'm Joshua, but everyone calls me Josh" Said the boy who helped her with her luggage. He looked at a smaller boy that looked similar to him, and gave him a little push with his elbow. The boy looked down and his ears turned bright red.

"Sorry 'bout that, he's just a bit shy. It's his first year at Hogwarts and he is not used to people. This is Thomas, my brother."

"It's my first year too! We can be buddies Thomas, or maybe I should call you Tom?" Cassie asked smiling at him to see if he would soften a bit, but still no answer from him. "Alright then, Tom it is!" She finished winking at him, but he never even budged.

"My name is grace, and I'm also a first year…" The only other girl said smiling at Cassie.

"That means I'm the only second year student here… that's grand! You all must obey me for I am superior!" They all laughed, including Tom that was starting to lighten up a bit.

During the whole trip to Hogwarts the four of them talked and played, and they also taught Cassie a buch of stuff about the wizarding world that she never knew. She learned about the houses, and also about the prejudice against muggleborns, like her. She was actually the only muggleborn in there, the boys were the so called 'pure bloods' and Grace was a 'half blood'. They told her about quidditch and Josh showed them a few first year spells. Time passed so fast that Cassie was afraid her year would run by just like that. During the sorting, Grace fell into the Hufflepuff house, Tom went to Ravenclaw joining his older brother, and Cassie went to the Gryffindor house. She actually had high hopes for her house, they seamed really warm and friendly. She wished again that her year wouldn't just fly by, so that she could enjoy every single moment.

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 **First chapter complete! Now I will go on with the main story, no more intruduction chapters of any sort! If you spot any mistake or anything else just say so ok? Constructive comments are always welcome! ;)**

 **Cae-Leigh Anne - I'm going to do a time leap, actually next chapter will be already her fifth or fourth year, I'm not sure yet. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Just another calm day at Hogwarts

Cassie was doing what she rather liked to do whenever she had nothing else to do: staring at other people and trying to figure out what they were saying. Actually, she just made them say whatever came to her mind. That was usually something that made her laugh even when she was bored. Maxime, Tom's cat, was taking a nap on her lap while she did that, and whenever she amused herself with her own creativity and laughed out loud, the poor thing would wake up and then go back to sleep. Suddenly Jinx appeared with a letter, probably from her mother, and landed by her side. She was a rather unusual owl, she preferred folowing Cassie around than being in the owlery. Cassie didn't mind though, she actually liked the constant company. She took the letter from the owl and started reading aloud so that she would hear as well.

"Oh Cas, I'm really glad to know you're ok! Everything is fine here as well! See you during summer break! Don't forget to bring those weird flavoured beans! Your grandfather absolutely loves them. Xoxo mom." She looked over at Jinx.

"Same as always Jinx, same as always." She reached inside her pocket for a snack to give to Jinx, and put the letter down. When she was choosing the next person she was going to dub in her mind, four boys appeared in front of her. It was James Potter and his friends. She looked at them, with a curious look in her face, as to why they were in front of her.

"Hello there!" Said James Potter smiling down at her.

"…Helo to you too…" Cassie answered still confused.

"Alright, I'm gonna go straight to the point. Can you help me with Care of Magical creatures? I'm kinda having some trouble with that…"

"Why me?" During the five years they've been in the same house, Potter and his friends never actually gave her the time of the day. Actually she was almost certain they didn't even know her name. Meanwhile, his friends were actually really talented and inteligent so she was sure they would be able to help him.

"Well, actually he asked Evans first." Remus said, without taking his eyes out of the book he was reading. "Since me and Sirius are busy this week and we can't help him."

"Busy this week?" Cassie asked a bit confused about the whole situation.

"Yeah… I'm gonna visit my sick mother…" Said Remus making Cassie regret ever questioning him.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I hope she gets better!" She said trying to lighten up the mood again. "Ok… go on with your explanation"

"So… she ignored him during the whole day, and then she finally decided she would offer him a deal…" Sirius continued.

"She would help him with what he wanted so he would stop bothering her any further." Remus explained.

"So he thought she would tutor him, and he agreed, but instead -" Sirius started laughing too much to talk so Remus explained the rest. "Instead she said 'Look for Cassie, my roomate, she loves that subject'"

"Now here we are… STOP LAUGHING PADFOOT! I did tell her that she wasn't being fair, but then I realized that you're her roommate so you can help me with Lily as well, and it wouldn't be so bad… AND I also get to pass" James finished. Cassie stared at them, still a bit confused, while the information was sinking in. Lily probably thought she would refuse to help… But she actually didn't mind helping him. It wasn't like her schedule was full or anything. And she didn't share the same loath for him that Lily did so…

"C'mon! Just for a week! I just need to pass the finals."

"Um… okay, I guess… But not about the Lily thing, 'cause I have absolutely no idea of how to help you" She answered, making James beam and then frown"

"What? Of course you do! You're her roommat! You must know a lot of crucial stuff about her-" James began but Cassie cut him in the middle of his sentence.

"I'm late for class! Talk to you later ok? Bye!" She gave a small hand wave at them and ran inside the castle. Jinx followed her behind and Maxime was still in Cassie's arms, she was a very lazy cat. She needed to quickly go to divination's class. That was a subject she liked a bit, but not a lot, probably because she wasn't very fond of trying to predict the future, but instead liked the meaning behind some things, so she didn't totally hate the class. She finally arrived at the classroom's door, turned around to wave goodbye at maxime and Jinx and rushed inside the classroom.

* * *

 **Sorry it took so long, but I have a bit of a problem with writing what guys say... 'cause I'm a girl! So, I just kept rewriting the conversation with the boys, I think I rewrote it like five times and I sitll think it isn't as boyish as it should be... BUT for now it's ok. I'll work on my "boy writing" skils and try to come up with the next chapter faster! Thanks for the support! Hope you like the chapter, and hope you don't mind my not so good "boy writing" skills. Hahah**


	4. The deal

Later that same day, in the common room, Cassie was waiting for the marauders to come so she would set the time of the meetings with James. Jinx was there with her while she read a book on potions, that was her worse weakeness. She didn't like all the rules and timings that potions involved, and mostly all of her potions would become brownish and weird looking. But she did know all the steps to make a good potion, the problem was while doing it for real. So she actually had a balanced grade in potions, but still she always studied the subject during her free time. Finaly after a while James and Sirius entered the common room folowed by a few giggling girls, probably their fans.

James was a decent looking guy, considered handsome by most girls and he was also quite talented at quidditch and most subjects wich made him even more popular. His outgoing personality and self steam also contributed to his fame. But in the subject of looks, there was no comparison to Sirius. He was the definition of gorgeous, and had a buch of girls fawning over him. He was also very inteligent and also talented at quidditch. He could date most of the girls in Hogwarts but he didn't seem interested in anyone, even though sometimes he did kind of date some girls for a week or two, probably at their request, but it was never anything serious or stable, and it never lasted for more than a week. Cassie's opinion about the two of them was the same as most the girls in school, they were both very charming, handsome and talented, but she wasn't a fan, she just admitted they were like that.

"James!" She called him while walking in his direction. Both of them stopped and looked at her.

"Oh! Hi… you!" He obviously forgot her name but she didn't mind. She smiled and corrected him.

"Hi! And it's Cassiopeia, but you can call me Cassie for short!"

"Alright, Cassie! Noted!"

"Hello to you too Sirius" She said smiling at him and doing a small hand wave. The girls in the back looked a bit envious and annoyed.

"Hey!" He answered cooly and the girls forgot about her and went back to observing him and sighting in love.

"So, I was thinking we could meet everyday seven o'clock, after you take a shower of course…" She looked at him, he looked like he had just been inside a typhoon full of dirt. Obviously they were at quidditch practice. "So… is that ok with you?"

"SURE! Thanks a lot! I'll be back in five minutes!" He ran up the stairs to the boys dorms and Sirius followed him behind giving Cassie a small wave goodbye before going up the stairs as well.

She continued to wait for James while reading her potions book when Lily and Alice arrived and took the seats in front and beside her.

"Hey cass!" Said Alice.

"Hi Cassie! Do you want help with that?" Lily pointed at the book cover.

"Sup girls, no need Lily, only if you're offering to brew the potion for me during class, if so, I must accept!" She said grinning.

"I can teach you how to brew, we can brew together before class."

"Ok then, tell me whenever you're free! Thanks!"

"No problem"

"Hey Cass, did Potter ask you to help him today?" Alice looked like she had just remembered about the "Potter Situation". Lily just rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"He can be so annoying!" Lily said.

"Well, actually I'm waiting for him right now, 'cause I agreed to help him…" Lily almost jumped from the chair and looked surprised and a bit worried at the same time.

"Why didn't you say so earlier!?" She asked and went up the girls dorm as soon as possible. Alice just smiled watching the whole scene.

"She has made it a habit of avoiding Potter as much as possible. Whenever he sees her he makes a fuss."

"I can't say I don't understand her though… I can only stand him because he never did to me what he does to her. I would be suffocated by his undying love in less than a week!" Cassie joked and they both laughed. Alice stayed there talking with her until James arrived.

"Well then, good luck with your studies! G'night." Alice said while getting up to leave.

"Hey Alice, tell Lily flower that I love her ok?"

* * *

 **Hey there! First I wanted to say I'm sorry that it took me so long to post this chap. I've been having exams and it has been crazy these weeks. Also, there was my boy writing problem wich makes me rewrite stuff a dozen times. But here it is! Finally! Yay**

 **So, hope you like it! Thanks for reading! Feel free to coment if I make any mistake!**


	5. Life changing events

It had been nearly a week ever since Cassie agreed to help James, and they met every night in the common room. Some nights the other marauders would join them and just hang around, but most nights it was just the two of them. Even so, Cassie felt a bit closer to them, James had started calling her Cas after he heard Alice calling her that, 'cause he thought it was cooler than Cassie, and so all the marauders called her Cass now. She was actually happy that they were so friendly and nice to her, it was a change to her normal lifestyle. Usualy she just hung out with the same old friends she had, that were all from different houses which made it a bit more difficult to meet. And now she was almost always with people around her, and it made her feel warm and happy inside, it wasn't really bad.  
During one of the study sections in which the marauders were all present, James suddenly changed the subject from studies to random questions about Cassie.

"Hey, why do you paint your nails, each one color?"

"Well, that's because each color has a meaning, and wearing them I want to attract that to me."

"Really? What does red mean?"

"Well, each color has it's own meaning for each person, red to me means energy and passion"

"What about gold?"

"Gold to me means achievement and triumph"

"That's all you need in life, only use these colors and be happy!" He sure did love Gryffindor house, was what passed through Cassie's mind.

"BUT, green means good luck, and I want to atrack good luck, also blue means harmony, trust and confidence and yellow means hapiness. So, yeah, I think all these colors matter! But I can paint yours red and gold if you want!" That made the marauders laugh and James just shake his head while making a disgusted face.

"I think he would look very handsome" Sirius said while laughing.

"He would look adorable! All the girls in Gryffindor would fall in love!" Remus said while raising his eyebrows. Peter only nodded and laughed.

"Oh do you mean it? Then I guess I'll have to say yes to that!" James said mocking and threw his hands at Cassie's lap.

"If you insist!" She said pretending to paint his nails, they all laughed and after a while each one went back to doing what they were originally doing. Except for james.

"What about your hair?" He pointed to the colorfull highlights.

"Oh, I just think it's pretty, it doesn't have any meaning."

"Not even the choice of colors?"

"Well, I chose it like this: My hair is kind of a dark brown, so I thought blue highlights would be cool, but blue highlights alone are boring, so I took other shades of blue and purple and made a bunch of highlights. Now I got this and I'm happy with the result."

"So the hair is just to be pretty…"

"Well, I know you don't think so, but I don't find myself ugly, BUT I also don't believe I'm beautiful. I would rate myself as average."

"Actually, in the beginning I did think you were average, but now that I got to spend some time with you I think you are kind of pretty in your own way… Honestly! I swear!" He threw his hands up to show he hadn't crossed his fingers.

"Hahahah, really? I guess you just got used to my face then, but thanks! I really like to be complimented!"

"Who doesn't?" They both laughed and went back to studying the subject of the following week's test.

The next day during breakfast Cassie decided to go join Josh and Tom in the Ravenclaw table. It had been a while since they actually had some time to talk. Grace had already left sice she had class.

"Hey guys, it's been a while…"

"Hey Cas, come and join us" Said Tom pointing to the sit between him and Josh.

"So, what's been going on with you two?" She said while sitting down.

"Well, I'm in my last year and it is driving me crazy!" Josh began. "I don't have time for anything other than studying! I don't have time for Malta, I don't have time for Lisa, I DON'T HAVE TIME TO SPEND WITH MY FRIENDS!" Malta was his pet owl, and Lisa was his girlfriend, from the Hufflepuff house and Grace's friend. Tom and Cas just exchanged a bored glance.

"Oh, stop with the drama. It is your last year! So don't waste your time complaining and do something about it!" Cassie said and Tom nodded.

"He's been at it everyday Cas, you have no idea what I have to go through."

"That's not true! But yeah, I'll do something about it! I have time right now actually! I'm gonna go and spend some time with the guys, see ya!" He got up and ran out of the Great hall.

"I think he is going blonkers. He is the only one in his year that is freaking out like that." Tom comented after his brother left.

"But, you know Josh, he wants to get full marks in everything that requires a mark. That's just how he is."

"Yeah, I guess that's right. Hey, how is it going? I mean the tutoring classes with James." .

"Oh, it is actually going really well. They are very nice people, I mean the marauders. I know they are the school's troublemakers but they are actually pretty fun and kind."

"Good for you! Now we won't feel bad anymore…"

"What do you mean? Feel bad about what?" Cassie asked a bit confused.

"Well… you see… Me and Grace both have made friends in our houses, so when we are not together, the three of us, we spend time with them. But you were the only one who didn't make any friends besides us… So we were a bit worried you would be lonely…"

"That's cute and all, but you really didn't have to worry about that! I mean, I like being alone sometimes, and I know how to spend the time when I'm alone… WAIT A MINUTE! Is this why you always left your cat with me?"

"She's a nice companion!"

"She's SO lazy! I had to carry it around the whole castle! And you told me she needed atention! You little liar!"

"Are you mad?"

"…not really, I'm actually happy that you guys were worried… but I don't want to take care of your pet anymore!"

"Not like you need it anyway… You already made friends in your house!"

That made Cassie think for a moment. Was she really friends with them? They were nice to her and she had been spending a lot of time with them, but she wasn't sure if they were friends already or if once the test was over James would go back to ignoring her existence. She didn't think asking them was a good idea because if they didn't consider her their friend it would be very akward, so she decided to wait and see. If they continued to talk to her even after the exams, then she could be sure they were actually friends now.

* * *

 **Tingting26021996 Thank you for reading! I'm really happy you like it and I hope you like this chapter too! Thanks for the support!**

 **And thanks to everyone who is also following the story! Feel free to correct me if I write something wrong or anything. Xoxo**


	6. A sign of friendship

"Alright James, this is the last quiz we're gonna make before the test! I made this one with everything that could possibly appear in there. It is the all mighty quiz!"

"Someone's excited about this quiz…" he said mocking her.

"Well! I spent a few days putting it together, so yeah! I gotta brag about it a little."

Just when she was about to hand the quiz over to James, Sirius rushed inside the common room, looked at them and made a silence signal while he hid under their table. They didn't even get a chance to ask what was that all about as a bunch of girls entered a few seconds later. They looked around, found James and ran towards him.

"Where's Sirius? Did he go up the dorms?" Asked one of them.

"Why hasn't he asked anyone to go to the winter ball with him yet?" Asked another one, not even letting he answer the first one.

"Does he already have a pair?" James looked over at Cassie, asking for help. She just smiled and mouthed a 'good luck'.

"Or is he not even gonna go?"

"Girls! Shush for a second! No, I haven't seen Sirius so go look for him, and ask him these questions!" Sirius hit his leg from under the table and James kicked him back.

"But he doesn't answer, he just says 'just cause' or 'maybe' to everything! The ball is one week away! We have to know!"

"No can do ladies, if I were you I would find somebody else to go with…" As James finished his sentece all the girls gasped.

"SO HE DOES HAVE A DATE!" One of them exclaimed.

"BUT WHO? Is it Marlene?" Another asked. At that point Cassie was already tired and decided to end that.

"Girls, we gotta study here! We meaning me and James, so go look for Sirius in the astronomy tower or something, preferably far away from here, yes?" All the girls looked at her, scanning from head to toe.

"Well, since he isn't here anyway, we will go…" The one on the front said and the others followed her out.

"You can come out now Sirius." James said and Sirius finally joined them on the table.

"I can't stand this anymore! Can't a guy go alone to a party?" Sirius said as soon as he joined them.

"Well, it is pretty sad to go alone… That's why I'm asking Evans."

"Oho! I think you've got better chances asking a dragon out!" Cassie commented. Both her and Sirius laughed.

"You'll see! One day we will get married!"

"And again you got better chances with the Dragon!" Said Sirius. Cassie and Sirius did a high five and continued laughing.

"But seriously now guys - " Sirius said after he stopped laughing. "What am I supposed to do with those girls? It gets tiring after a while."

"Why don't you just answer them?" Cassie asked.

"In the beginning I did asnwer them, but it does get tiring, and they don't stop! Also I don't even know if I want to ask someone to the ball, and I don't know if I want to go either…"

"You could say that you're not taking anyone then…" said James.

"If I said that they would start asking me out like last year."  
"True… I forgot about that…"

"What happened last year?" Cassie asked with a confused expression in her face.

"Well, when Sirius said he wasn't gonna ask anyone to the ball, the girls decided they would ask him, so he got a lot of chocolate filled with love potions and couldn't take three steps through the castle without being stopped by some girl."

"And now it's happening again… It's been like this since yesterday."

"Well, they got out of here thinking that you already have a date… you can just confirm the story that James accidentally made up…" Cassie said.

"That's actually a nice idea! CASS YOU'RE GREAT!" Sirius got up to hug her but she put up her hand as a stop sign.

"Ok, you're welcome but what I told those girls was true! We are studying here, so go take care of your girl problem while we are reviewing stuff here!" Sirius nodded, smiled to them, said his last 'thank you' and got out of the common room.

"Finally you can start the quiz!" Cassie said handing him the quiz.

"Hey Cass… Could you talk to Lily for me… About the ball?"

"… James! Last quiz!"

"Please! You are her roomate! I bet you can at least change her mind about going to the ball with me."

"James, I really don't want to play match maker here..."

"Pleeeeeease!"

"Besides, it's not even gonna sound natural if I suddenly say 'Oh James is such a nice guy, you should definitely go to the ball with him!"

"….Well, you can wait for the right moment to say it, or you can just say it in a more subtle way…"

"…If I agree to do this, and I'm saying IF… You'll be indebted with me, until I decide on what I want you to do… Deal?"

"DEAL! Yes! Evans will fall in love with me in this ball!"

"Yes yes, whatever you say, now let's finish the quiz shall we?"

"Who are you going with Cas?"

"Seriously James? The quiz!"

"I'm just curious!" He said taking the quiz from her hands.

"Well, I wasn't even aware of a ball until a few minutes ago, so I don't have a date." He looked up from the quiz with a shocked look on his face.

"In what universe do you live? How could you not know about this ball?"

"Hm, I don't know, it's not like I'm interested in going anyway, so it doesn't matter…"

"I can get you a date if you want..."

"Nah, the only thing I want right now is for you to finish the quiz, so I can check if you know everything I taught you."

"Okay, I'm starting now!"

And this time he really did start the quiz. While he was answering it Cass was thinking about the ball, and what she was going to tell Lily to make her even consider taking James. If she did succeed though, what would she make him do? She had a lot of nice ideas of funny things for him to do, but she wanted a great one! Something that would be unforgettable and super funny. 'But what about the ball?' She thought. 'I don't think I want to go, but if Lily agrees on going with James I have to go, I don't want to miss this…'

"Finished!" James said suddenly.

"Oh! Let me check then… You got all of them!"

"Ohoho! That means we are finished here!"

"And that you will most definitely pass the test!"

"GREAT! Now you go and look for chances to talk to Evans! I'm gonna look for the guys."

She nodded and they both went their ways. But before she reached the top of the stairs to the girls dorm, James turned around and called her.

"Oh! And cas?" She turned around to look at him. "Thanks for everything!"

"You better pass!" She said and resumed to walking up the stairs.

As soon as she entered the girls dorm she started wondering if the next day she would be allowed to sit with the marauders as she had been for a while or if that would be inconvenient of her. 'Better get some sleep, and just take it easy. Tomorrow I'll walk close to them, if they invite me then that's the sign of friendship… yup!' And with that in mind she went to sleep.

The next day she woke up while the other girls were getting ready, and coincidentally talking about dates to the ball.

"Remus asked me yesterday and I said I'd think about it… But I wanted another person to ask me…" said Marlene.

"Yup, we know you wanted Peter to invite you!" Said Alice.

"Ha ha! Look at you beaming just because Frank asked you!"

"Well, he is the boy I like…"

"What about lily, do you have a date?" Cassie entered the conversation.

All the girls looked at her with a shocked look on their faces. 'SHIT! That wasn't subtle? I just asked if she has a date…' She thought. "What?" She said since the girls didn't say anything.

"You're interested… You're never interested…" Marlene began.

"Why are you interested…?" Alice asked.

"What makes you think I'm never interested? I always listen to you girls talking about these stuff…"

"Yes, and you always change the subject to something that has nothing to do with anything we were talking about, something that crossed your mind." Said Lily.

"Wha- Well… yeah, but this time I was a bit curious because you've been quiet for a while Lily…" Actually Cass had just woken up, but since she didn't hear lily say anything she said that to see if they bought it.

"That's true… Lily! You're awfully quiet this morning!" Said Alice.

"What's on your mind? Did someone ask you to the ball yesterday?" Marlene asked.

"Geez, I don't want to talk about it…"

"WHO WAS IT? Was it Potter again? He doesn't know when to give up…" Said Marlene.

"Let her answer!" Alice exclaimed.

"…It was not Potter. I can't believe I'm saying this but I wish it had been Potter!"

"WHAT?" All the girls looked at her with a shocked look on their faces.

"NO! No! Nooooo! You got it wrong! I meant that eben Potter would be better than him, but that's because with Potter is just annoyance… and I don't get hurt…"

"Wait… Oh no he didn't!" Said Marlene.

"I can't believe he would… after what happened…" Alice continued.

"Wait, who?" Cass was the only one who didn't seem to get who they were talking about.

"Severus Snape… He came to ask me to go with him yesterday… and apologise."

"Oh… And I'm supposed to know who that is…?"

"Oh yeah, you weren't there… But no one ever told you about what happened? Seriously?" Marlene asked.

"Can't you guys explain?"

"I'm sorry, you guys can tell her, I'm gonna go ahead. See you in class." Lily rushed out of the room.

"Wait! Lily! Alice, you tell her, I'm gonna stay with her." Marlene followed Lily out and the room was quiet again.

"Well… it seems we are a bit late as well, so I'll just be brief. To make a long story short, Snape was friends with Lily, but no one liked him except from her. He was a bit rude to us… Oh well! And the one who hated him the most was definitely Potter, probably because he liked Lily and was super jealous. So one day, he was bullying Snape, just like all the other times he bullied him… But Lily was there, and so were the people from Slytherin. That never happened before, because Snape never spent time with Lily and his friends from Slytherin together. So! Lily stepped in to help Snape, and Potter told Snape he was luck she was there. And that's when he exploded and said he didn't need help from a muggleborn…. Of course he used the nasty version of the word. Since then she hasn't talked to him, until yesterday I guess…"

"…Oh, I should apologize to Lily later…"

"Nah, don't worry about it. It's better if we don't remind her of what happened. Let's just talk to her normally and find her a nice date to the ball."

"What about James?" Cass asked hoping she would become her ally and help her convince Lily.

"What about him?"

"Well, he likes her… And he is a nice guy, I mean, he is getting better…"

"… He asked you to help him didn't he!? That's why you suddenly got interest this morning!" Alice made a happy and shocked discovery face.

"PLEASE DON'T TELL THEM! HELP MEEE!" Cass knelt down and begged.

"What did he offer you in exchange?"

"I get to decide something for him to do, but I haven't decided what yet…"

"Alright I'll help you but I also get to help deciding what he'll do!"

"DEAL!" They shook hands and headed over to the great hall.

Later the same day, Cassie had some free time in the afternoon and decided to go outside and play a bit in the snow. When she arrived there she found the marauders playing snowball fight. 'I want to play… but maybe I'm meddling if I join… they are four wich perfectly makes two teams of two people… Yeah, I'm gonna go make a snowman over there.' She turned her back to them and started walking towards a quiet place when a snowball hit her directly in the head. She turned around and found the four of them staring at her.

"It's rude to ignore your friends you know?" James shouted from behind his fort. Sirius and him were a team, against Remus and Peter.

"Yeah! Come and join us! Let's finish them!" Sirius shouted and pointed at the other team.

"Well! If you insist… But I think your team has too much advantage!" She said running towards Peter and Remus. "I'm gonna help them win!"

"Yeah!" Remus held up a high five for her, when she arrived at their fort, and they started the war again.

While they were throwing a bunch of snowballs at each other, the forts ended up colapsing and they started to run around and throw snowballs at each other. While Cassie was preparing another snowball she saw Sirius ready to attack her and ran, but he didn't give up and ran after her. He was very fast and almost catching up on her, she turned around to look and ended up losing her balance and fell to the ground. Since he was very close he ended up falling on top of her. His face was really close to her, and his heavy breath had a minty smell. She felt her face getting red.

"You're heavy!" Was what she managed to say. 'Oh god, he really is very handsome… and this is embarrassing… he is too close!' Was what she was thinking. He started laughing and got up, then helped her get up. Meanwhile the other guys didn't seem to notice what happened since they were still fighting each other. While Cass was trying to take out the snow from her clothes, Sirius took the chance to throw the snowball he had been planning to throw at her since the beginning.

"What! Seriously?" She looked at him laughing and was preparing to make a snowball to throw at him when a pile of snow fell on top of her. She screamed from the shock and then started to laugh. Sirius had a shocked face as well, and her scream made the other look over there.

"Oh my god! What happened…" She looked around to see that she was directly under a tree and the snow must had fallen from the brenches. Sirius had gotten over the sock and started to laugh as well, so did the others as they arrived there.

"Are you alright?" Remus asked as he got closer and helped her to get rod of the snow on her head.

"I'm fine, but now I super cold, I'm gonna go inside now."

"Maybe we should go as well, we can drink hot chocolate!"

"Yeah, but we have to wait until dinner for that!" Said Cas.

"Not really… We have our ways…" James said and started to walk towards the castle. They all followed him inside. While they were walking around the castle Cas smiled to herself happy that they considered her a friend. 'I actually had a lot of fun today…' That was definitely the sign of friendship she had been waiting for. 


	7. A new plan

"Alright you guys go back to the common room and wait for us there, we wil get hot chocolate to everyone." Said James when they reached the stairs.

"Where are you going to get it?" Cassie asked a bit suspicious. Remus pulled her towards the stairs.

"Let's go wait for them and get you warm and cozy in the fireplace before you get sick." He said pulling her farther and farther from the other three.

"You guys are hiding something and whether it's a secret room with food or a passage to a kitchen somewhere, is what I want to know!"

"Well, I can and will only say that one of your guesses is the closest to reality!"

"Well, then you can and will only tell me nothing…"

"Exactly!"

They arrived at the common room and were the only ones in there for their surprise. They got the best places next to the fireplace and started talking about the final tests and which subjects they feared the most.

"Here we are!" Said James as they arrived.

"Why is it so empty in here? What did you guys do?" Sirius asked looking suspiciously at them.

"Well, we started snogging and they all ran out." Cassie said.

"They must be all in the library studying for the finals." Remus said.

"You don't need to hide it from us moony! We won't judge you!" James said.

"Oh well, it seams they found out we are dating Remus!" Cassie said.

"Wait! You were Serious?" Peter was shocked.

"No Peter! I'm Sirius! They are just dating!" Said Sirius. They all laughed about the fact that Peter still didn't get it and they decided to leave him thinking it was true just to see how long he would go without noticing.

The next day, was a Hogsmead visiting day. Cassie spent her breakfast with Alice both trying to think of ways to make Lily consider James as an option of a date to the ball. They ended up again with nothing and decided during their time in Hogsmead they would try and convince her. When they arrived there, the girls wanted to go to the tea store that had just opened and was super cute, but Cassie didn't like the idea.

"You all go and we meet up later!"

"C'mom Cassie! Look at how cute it is!" Said Alice

"Yeah, it is cute but I don't like tea! Why would I go there?"

"You don't like tea?" Marlene asked shocked.

"Well, not in the morning… And I'd rather have a butterbeer or something… Anyways, you go, we meet up later." Cassie said and turned around to finish the conversation.

While she walked around wondering where she should go first, Sirius suddenly opened the door from the three broomsticks, spotted her, took her hand and ran with her to a hidden alley.

"Help!" He said as they were hidden.

"What? What did you guys do this time?"

"No! We didn't do anything. It's the girls again! They keep asking who the girl I'm taking is, and is driving me mad. They wont leave me alone and some of them are already suspecting the girl doesn't exist!"

"Oh, can't you just tell them you're not going?"

"But I want to go!"

"Yes, I know, but can't you just lie?"

"…I guess, but now that I think about it, wont they all just keep bothering me during the ball as well? Asking for dances and etc…?"

"Hm, why don't you just invite a girl and then you won't have problems anymore?"

"Because I don't feel like taking a girl that just wants to snog me all the time…" He suddenly stopped as if he had thought of something. "Who are you taking to the ball?" He suddenly asked.

"Me? I'm not going. I'm not a party girl I guess."

"Why not?"

"I don't know, I never have fun at parties. I'd rather stay at the dorm and play with Jinx."

"Hm… that's because you never went to a party with people who know how to party…"

"What?"

"Would you like to go to the ball with me?" He suddenly asked.

"No way!" She said just as he finished asking her.

"Wait! Please! Just think about it! You'll help me and I help you!"

"How will you help me sir?"

"I'll make sure you have fun! I swear!"

"I didn't even want to go!"

"Please! Okay, tell me something you want, anything!"

"…I want not to go to the ball."

"Anything else!"

"Gah, I don't know! World peace?"

"Really? Alright, tell me something you like."

"Hm, I don't know… I like a lot of stuff…" She started thinking when she spotted a girl eating a chocolate frog inside a store. "Like chocolate frogs for example!"  
"DEAL!"

"Wait! What? I just said I like them! And I'm kinda collecting the cards…"

"So I'll buy you as many as you want! And then you go to the ball with me!"

"… As many as I want?"

"Yes!"

"Alright, so I want to receive three chocolate frogs a day for 3 months!"

"What? Why don't you want all of them at once already?"

"Because if I get all at once, people will ask me to share with them, as opposed to getting 3 a day and eating them on my own without attracting any unwanted attention towards my food..." she sighed "Geez, I'm selfish when it comes to chocolate..."

"….Anyways! Deal?" He extended his hand waiting for her to shake it.

"Deal!" She shook his hand.

As soon as they got out from the alley, a bunch of girls appeared and started to ask them what they were doing in there.

"We were just talking, deciding what hour we will meet at the ball!" Cassie said. "WHAT? THIS IS YOUR DATE?" A very loud girl screamed pointing at Cassie as if she were some kind of disgusting creature.

"She's a friend who agreed to go with me, so as you can see, I already have a date." He said and took Cassies hand, pulling her towards the three broomsticks. They went to the table where James, Remus and Peter were seated.

"I see you managed to get rid of the girls and found Cass on the way."

"Yeah, actually she helped." Sirius said and drank a bit of his butterbeer that he left behind when he got out to get rid of the girls.

"Yeah, I decided to accompany him to the ball."

"Oh that's great! It's gonna be fun and since you're friends with Lily we can all just hang out there!"

As soon as James said that, Cassie remembered she was supposed to be with Alice right now and try to convince Lily to go with James.

"Sorry guys, I just remembered I need to drink some… urg… tea. Anyways, see you later!"

She dashed of towards the place she left her friends, hoping they would not ne in there anymore so she could continue as planned without having to enter that place. As soon as she arrived at the door, her friends were comming out.

"Nice timing!" Said Alice.

"Yeah… Where are we going now?"

"Well, we wanna go over Honeydukes for a few sweets." Lilly answered.

"Okay, let's go then!" Cassie said and as soon as her friends went ahead she pulled Alice a bit back so the others wouldn't listen. "Sorry 'bout that, I kinda forgot our plan, came back as soon as I remembered, how's it going?"

"Bad! She doesn't even want us to mention him! How are we gonna get her to accept the invitation?"

"I don't know! Maybe she needs to see him the way I see him… I think I have an idea! A new plan!"

"What is it?"

"Just play along! I'll be back in a bit!" Cassie said as ran off somewhere. Alice just stood there without knowing what to do.

"Alice, where's Cassie?" Lily had just turned around to talk to them.

"She keeps running off today!" Marlene commented.

"She said she had just remembered something really important and that she would be back soon…" Alice said while grabbing Lilly's and Marlene's arms and pulling them towards the candy shop. "Meanwhile let's go get some candy!"

Cassie had just spotted a random Hufflepuff student who had just been knocked down by two Slytherins.

"Hey you! Stop that right now!" She ran towards them and put herself between the Slytherins and the Hufflepuff.

"Oh look! Another Gryffindork! We are so scared!" Mocked one of them.

"And it's a major Gryffindork, I mean, look at how weird she is!" The other said pointing to her hair and her dangling charms.

"Some call it being dorky, I call it being stylish… and different, which is cool! And you on the other hand, are mean, and selfish. That is not cool!" She pointed her wand at them. They pointed it back and they started to duel. It was a bit difficult since it was two against one and she was also trying to protect the Hufflepuff student from getting hit. After a while she managed to knock the two of them down, take the Hufflepuff guy and scramble.

"Thanks for that…" The guy said as soon as they reached a safe place.

"Oh don't worry, it's always nice to train our skills!" Cassie answered. "Are you really okay?"

"Yeah! I'm fine! Really thanks! If you ever need anything, I'll gladly help you!"

"Thanks mate! I gotta go now! I was in the middle of something actually… But right back at ya!"

"What?"

"If you need something, I'll also gladly help you! Gotta go, bye!"

After a while running around and asking Cassie finnaly found Josh, but he was in the middle of snogging the life out of Lisa.

"…erm… Josh?" She looked apologetic at him, as he glared at her. "Sorry! It will only take a sec." He looked at Lisa which smiled and let him go.

"This better be important!"

"I just want to know where's Tom?"

"…God damn it Cassie! You know I don't get much time to spend with lis theses days!"

"Do you have any idea where he went? I've been looking for him and Grace! But I could only find you! And you were hard to find so…"

"That's because we didn't want to be found! …Alright, did you check the shack? I heard some of his friends today at breakfast mention it."

"Thanks! You may go back to you snogging now! Bye!"

Cassie was already tired of running around Hogsmead, but she was sure her plan had a huge rate of success, so she had to hurry. As soon as she got to the shack, she saw the foot marks on the snow, leading towards the house.

"I can't believe those idiots went in there!" She said to herself. She started to walk towards the shack and mumble. "I mean, come on! Couldn't they be somewhere closer? That shack is too far away! I'm already tired and I'm not even half way there… curse this snow! It's making it so much harder!" When she finnaly arrived at the door, she realized it was locked, she took her wand out and was ready to use the alohomora spell.

"It doesn't work" She turned around to see who said that, it was Tom.

"Wha… where did you come from?"

"Me and my friends were in the back of the house when I saw you coming... Why are you here? Trying to enter as well?"

"No! I came looking for you! I need a huge favor!"

"Hmm, I don't know, I'm kinda busy…" Cassie looked over his shoulder and saw his friends where having a snowball fight.

"Are you serious? That's a snowball fight!"

"A very good one!"

"Come on! Please! It will only take a short while?"

"What do you need?"

"I need you to tell a lie to a certain Slytherin group…"

"…Cas, what are you planning? "

"You don't need to know that, all I need you to do is plant the evil seed!"

"What?"

"Lie! I need you to lie to them, but not directly! That's why we also need Grace!"

"Wait a minute, you said this was only going to take a short while, but now it looks a bit more complex!"

"Well, with all these questions and explanations it will take even longer!"

"… Alright! Fine! Let's go look for Grace!" He said and ran off.

"Okay, you go over there and I'm comming this way! We meet at the village entrance!" Cassie said while running in the opposite direction. She looked in all the shops she had in her area and after she didn't find Grace she went to the meeting point. Grace and Tom were already there.

"What took you so long?" Said Tom.

"What's going on Cassie?" Said Grace.

"Okay, here's the plan, you two heard Lily and Marlene talking bad things about Malfoy and his friends. Things like they are not worthy of Hogwarts and that their blood is… I don't know, I'm not good and offensive stuff. But they need to feel very angry at Lily!"

"… YOU WANT TO HURT LILY EVANS?" Tom shouted.

"SHHH! Tom! What the heck!"

"Are you out of your mind Cassie?" Grace had a shocked face.

"No, no no, yoU guys don't get it! I need Malfoy, so that James will have a reason to save Evans, and hopefully she will give him a chance to prove he is a different guy now!"

"So… you are trying to set up the Slytherins, so that Potter will get the girl?" Tom asked.

"Yup! That's it!"

"That's mental! And risky!" Said Grace.

"Don't worry! Anyways! I gotta go talk to James! Please do your part! I know you will because you are very reliable friends! Love you!" Cassie said and ram off to find james.

"JAMES!" She shouted when she spotted his table at the three broomsticks.

"What the hell Cas! I almost chocked on my butterbeer!" Said James.

"What's with the hurry?" Asked Remus.

"Your chance has just appeared! But you only get one shot to make it right!"

"What do yiu mean by that?" Peter asked.

"Lily! Malfoy and his friends are over there acusing her and Marlene of something she didn't do, and you have to help her." He got up as soon as she finished and she pulled him down again. "You have to remember that this is your chance with her! Show her the guy you really are! No need for bragging, or insulting! Remember that! Be reasonable!" She let him go, and pushed the other three back to their places. "Wait a few seconds and then we can go after him" They waited for a while and then got up in a rush to get where the whole thing was happening.

"He shouldn't have gone alone!" Sirius shouted.

"He had to! We are gonna help as soon as we get there!"

"Cassie what are you plannin?" Remus asked.

"It's alright! Everything will be fine Remus!"

When they finnaly arrived, Lily and James were dueling together against Malfoy and his friends. Cassie and Sirius joined them while Remus and peter went to look after Alice and Marlene who were lying on the floor.

"ENOUGH!" McGonagall shouted and everyone stopped.

"They started it!" Malfoy said.

"They were insulting us!" Bellatrix completed.

"WE DID NO SUCH THING! AND YOU ATTACKED MY FRIENDS!" Lily shouted enraged.

"Miss Evans! Control yourself… What about you mr Potter, how are you involved in this?"

"Cas told me Malfoy was attacking Evans with false acusations, so I came to help…"

"You should have called me Miss Bodden!"

"I'm sorry Professor, but I was in a hurry and I didn't think straight…"

"But she wasn't with them!" Bellatrix said.

"I saw you guys, heard everything and went searching for help!" Cassie rushed to answer before Lily could suspect anything.

"Everyone follow me back to the castle right now! We will talk about this ober there!" McGonagall said and turned around to go to the castle.

"Is this fine to you Cass?" Remus pointed to Alice and Marlene who were being carried by a spell McGonagall made.

"No, I didn't think they would attack them like that… but look!" She pointed over to James and Lily who were walking and talking ahead of them.

"What you did here today was dangerous! They could have hurt your friends! I don't know what exactly you were planning but you should have warned us beforehand!"

"… I agree with you Remus, and I'm sorry, I'm just happy Alice and Marlene are fine and that Lily is willing to talk to James for once… Just that."

"It's alright… Just don't do that again, and let's hope we don't get too much detention."

Fortunatly for them, McGonagall just gave them a short detetion, to write an apology letter to the people they hurt so no one would miss the ball the next week. Alice and Marlene obviously were not punished. And even though it didn't go quite as Cassie had planned, it did work for Lily to give James a chance of proving he had changed.

"Hey Evans…" He called as soon as they reached the fat lady.

"Yes Potter."

"I was wondering… If maybe you would consider, perhaps, going with me to the ball… if you want…?"

"You know Potter, I think I might regret this… But I know I will regret if I say no… And that's why, it's a yes."

"Wait what?"

"Yes Potter, I will go to the ball with you."

"THAT'S GREAT! AWESOME! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I GOTTA TELL SIRIUS! HE'S GONNA FLIP! THANKS EVANS! I WON'T DISAPOINT YOU!" He ran inside the common hall and up the boys dormitory.

"I bet you will… but maybe that's ok with me…"

* * *

 **Hey guys, sorry it took so long to update. I've been having a feel health problems and along with that I had some exams coming up. But now I'm back and fine! Hope you like this chapter, I'm already working on the next one. Just found out I'm terrible with last names, coming up with them is just almost impossible for me XD That's why I did what every person would do, searched on google ;) Anyways, byee!**


	8. Annoying fanclub

The dance was only one week away from happening and all the girls were visibly very excited about it. Cassie however was a bit indiferent.

"So girls, I bought this dress and I wanted your opinion on it" Said Marlene while showing off the dress.

"Oh it is gorgeous!" Said Lily. "I wish mine were as beautiful as yours!"

"What are you talking about Lils? Yours is really pretty!" Said Alice.

"Yours too! Actually all of our dresses are great! But I still didn't see yours Cassie."

"What? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention…" said Cassie while looking up from the book she was reading.

"Your dress! You're going to the ball with Sirius right?"

"Oh, well yes, but my dress is no big deal, it's really simple."

"By the way, you still didn't explain to us how this happened…" said Marlene.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, first you're suddenly going to the ball and second with Sirius Black?"

"Yeah Cas, it was quite a shock to us." Said Alice.

"Why? We are friends… How did you guys know about it by the way?" Cas asked.

"All the girls are talking about it. Saying a lot of mean stuff about you and well, at first we thought it wasn't true, but Potter said you agreed…"

"Oh, we are only going as friends… besides, it could be fun to do something different once in a while, why not?"

"Yeah, that's true… "

"And Lily what about you? Do you have a partner yet?" Marlene asked. Cas and Alice exchanged excited looks waiting for her to asnwer.

"…Yes, I decided to go with… Potter."

"WHAT? But you hate him? Why the sudden change of plans?" Marlene asked. Alice and Cassie just grinned to each other.

"Because I think he deserves a chance to prove if he has really changed like he says, and besides, he is a fun guy."

Marlene was left with a mouth wide open while Lily went to the bathroom to take her shower. Alice and Cassie continued talking about the ball and Alice told her how excited she was about going with Frank. Cassie was happy because she felt really close to Alice and she was a very sweet girl, it was a rather nice feeling interacting with her new friends.

The next day while Cassie was going to her classroom she noticed that a lot of girls kept bumbping into her. During the whole day they had been pushing her and saying sorries that were obviously meaningless. Then a group of girls pushed her so hard she fell down.

"Alright that's it! What the hell do you girls want?" She looked up angry at them.

"What do you mean? Do you want some help getting up?" Said one of the girls while the others giggled.

"I want to know why you keep bumbping into me! And no I don't want your help." Cassie said while she picked up her books that had scattered around the floor.

"It was an accident, don't be so conceited!"

"Yeah! The world doesn't turn around you!"

"Conceited? It is obvious you girls have been doing this on purpose! I'm not a fool!" Cassie said, finally getting up to face them.

"Well, you sure look like one." The girls laughed.

"You're really making me angry! If you girls bump into me again I promise you I won't be the only one falling down!" Cassie said and turned around to leave.

"Is that a threat?"

"Nope, just a warning."

"Well aren't we cocky?! Just because Sirius is taking you to the ball doesn't mean you're THAT special!" As soon as she heard that Cassie turned around to look at them again.

"So that's what this is about! You're from Sirius' fan club! Well, I sorry to break it to you, but bumbping into me or pushing me around won't make he ask you instead!"

"You're so ugly! Why did he pick you anyway?" A very pretty blonde girls said.

"I don't know, maybe because he enjoys my company more than yours… either way, we are only going as friends, so stop pushing me around because I can assure you, he won't start liking you if you keep bullying his friends!"

Cassie left the girls with the only expectation of being left alone, but her advice to the girls had the oposite effect. Since the girls found out she was a friend of Sirius Black they interpreted it as a way to get close to him, through her. And since then, instead of being pushed around, she was greeted by almost every girl in Hogwarts, and everyday they came up with a different gift for her. And along the gifts came letters talking about the girl who had sent it and how she would love to date Sirius.

"This is starting to get ridiculous!" Said Tom one morning while they were having breakfast and five owls came in Cassie's direction.

"It has been ridiculous since the start! This is really annoying!" Said Cass.

"At least now you're popular!" Said Grace.

"Who says I want to be popular? I miss having time to think! Now everytime I'm alone, some girl comes and starts talking to me! The worst part is that I know they don't even like me!"

"Lisa said that some girls in her dorm were saying you were so weird that maybe you would end up dating the giant squid… That doesn't even make any sense! She protected you by the way." Said Joshua.

"Say my thanks to her Josh, and ask her to tell them to bugger off!"

"Calm down Cass, this will probably end in a week or two, when they get tired of it." Said Grace.

"It's easy for you to say! You don't have a bunch of girls with second intentions folowing you around!"

"Why don't you talk to Sirius about it?" Asked Tom.

"And what exactly could he do about it? He doesn't have any power over them! Actually I'm the one who he asked for help! He must be in heaven now! Now I get why he didn't mind buying me that much chocolate frogs!"

"By the way, I want one!" Said Tom.

"Dream on! These frogs are the only light in the darkness of my life right now."

"Whoa, that was deep!" Said Josh.

"But it's the truth… Anyways, I'm gonna go and think of something to make these girls leave me alone, bye!"

"Good luck Cas!" Said Grace and Josh.

"And don't forget my chocolate frogs!" Said Tom.

"Yeah right." Said Cass before turning away and going towards the owlery.

While she walked around the castle she kept thinking of what she could say to those girls that would make them forget her existence. 'Maybe I could tell them that I will not say anything good about them to Sirius if they keep bothering me…' She thought, but as usual those days, she was interrupted. Someone was poking her from behind.

"OH MY GOD! Leave me alone for a second! I NEED PEACE!" Cassie turned around to see a shocked Sirius Black. "Oh, Sorry, I thoght you were someone else." He grinned.

"They came after you right?"

"You could have warned me about them!"

"I did! I told you what they did to me!"

"Yeah… but you didn't tell me what they would do to me!"

"I thought you would assume such a thing would happen."

"Nope! Didn't assume anything! Anyways, what do you want? I'm trying to figure a way of dealing with them and you're distracting me."

"I was walking around the castle and saw you, so I thought we could spend some time together, where are you going?"

"To the owlery, send a letter to my mom."

"You are very close to your mom right?"

"Yeah, she's the best. I'm very thankful to her, and the way she raised me, letting me be free to choose what I wanted to do… What about you? How's your mom?"

"… I don't really like to talk about my family."

"Hm, so you have family problems… It's ok, some people were born in the wrong families aparently… I mean… sorry! I don't even know what's the deal with your family, I shouldn't have said that."

"It's okay, I agree with you actually… You see, I'm a Black, and my family is a huge suppoter of Voldemort and his ideas about muggle-borns… I don't agree with them, and I actually like muggles, and also, my whole family has been sorted in Slytherin, I was the first one to change that… Mother was pissed! She sent me a howler on my second day of school… And now I'm considered a blood traitor."

"Oh… I didn't know about that…" Cassie stoped walking and turned around to face him. "But you know, I really meant what I said earlier, some people seam to have been born in the wrong family, and you should be proud of the person you turned out to be even though you only had bad influences in your house!" Cassie reached out her hands to touch his. "You turned out to be a good person, a great friend, and a loyal guy! That's not something anyone can teach you to be, so you should be proud of yourself and move foward without thinking of the bad things the Black household has done, because that's not you!"

"Well, I know that! But thanks Cas! And also, I'm not living with my mother anymore, I left the house and I'm staying at James' for a while."

"Oh! That's great then! I really didn't know that! So I'm glad you know who you are and well, if you need anything, just ask. And for the right amount of chocolate frogs I might help you!" She winked at him and resumed walking to the owlery.

"You're a very greedy girl you know that?"

"It's called business my friend!"

They continued talking about random things until they reached the owlery. There he helped her write her mother a letter and even wrote a few messages to her as well. 'Well, she will be happy to see I have made more friends' Cassie thought while Sirius wrote another message in her letter.

Hi mom, how's it going over there? Remember the ball they announced in the beginning of the year and that I told you I wasn't going? Yeah, I changed my mind and I'm gonna go with a friend of mine. **_A very handsome one by the way_**. He is Sirius Black! And he is very nosy writing stuff in my letter! Anyways, thanks for putting the dress secretly back into my luggage, it was very helpful. _**Miss, I hope you have a good sense of fashion because my partner MUST look awesome.**_ Ignore that mother and don't worry, I'll take a few pictures! Love you! Byee

"You're really gonna send it like that?" Sirius asked while she put the letter in her owls leg.

"Sure, she will be happy to see I've made even more friends. She's aways worried thinking I'm too lonely."

"Your mom sounds great!"

"Well, she is one of a kind… You're really ok with this kind of family talk?"

"Oh, I'm not an emotional guy! I don't really mind that. Besides, I consider James and my friends in the Gryffindor house more as a family than my own actual family."

"So that would make me your sister!"

"I guess that's why I can stand you!"

"Stand me?! I'm the one who's standing you sir!"

"Whatever, we should go before one of these owls decide to poop in our heads."

"Oh that's right, I still need to go and talk to those girls…"

"So this is where we say good bye!" He reached out his hand do shake hers but she avoided it.

"Wait, and why is that?"

"You just want to avoid any more trouble with those girls, and being with me, alone in the owlery isn't a good start…"

"…I guess I understand your point... But it is stupid!"

"What?"

"So you are suggesting we can't ever be alone anywhere, even if it is just talking, because people might think we are up to no good?"

"Well, I guess that was the suggestion…"

"But if we are friends wouldn't that be stupid? I mean, we are pretendind to ne distant with each other, but we are friends. And also, we are doing things like this on others behalf? That's stupid! So I say we walk out of here together because we are friends who went to the owlery to send a letter to my mom!" She reached his hand and pulled him out along with her. "And don't worry about the girls, I'll deal with them myself."

The only thing Sirius could think about at that moment was how Cass was an awesome person. He already liked her as a friend, but as he grew to know her better he was beginning to admire her as a person. He also felt like spending more and more time with her, but he didn't quite think about the reason, he just thought it was a friendly interest, at least that's how it began.

* * *

 **And here it is, the beginning of feelings! I get super excited and a bit shy writing these parts! I think, if everythig goes as planned, next chapter will already be the ball! Crazy things happen at balls... just saying. ;)**


	9. A new point of view

The winter ball was a day away and boy were the girls crazy. Cassie would never understand why everybody enjoyed balls so much, or parties or anything social for that matter. She would choose a small gathering of friends in her house over a ball without even thinking about it. However, she did agree to go with Sirius so she was a bit nervous as well, and she did try her dress on while the other girls weren't around, just to make sure it was really okay. She was hoping that maybe Lily, Alice and Marlene would help her getting ready, but she decided she would only ask them at the day of the ball, maybe a few hours before the event, so they wouldn't make a fuss out of it. And so as the day went by and the other girls were openly nervous about the event, Cassie just stood as calm as she could on the outside while freaking out a bit on the inside.

"But really, what is this ball for again?" Asked Tom. They were having dinner at the great hall and talking about the big event.

"It's the winter ball! So it's all about celebrating winter." Answered Grace.

"Okay, I thought of that, but that would mean that they would hold the event every year, but in all the years we have been here only this year we have a winter ball… WHY?"

"I don't know! And I don't really care. I just like the idea of a ball!"

"Well, I don't. I hate formal things. Why not a winter party? Or better yet a winter festival or something?"

Grace just ignored him and looked over at Cassie who was very quiet that night. Too quiet in Grace's opinion.

"Cass, you alright?"

Cassie had been thinking about the very same ball they were talking about and seemed to get even more nervous as time passed by.

"Yeah? Yeah… Yeah, I'm cool"

"Did you talk to the fan girls?" Tom asked.

"Actually they stopped talking to me on their own... And to think I got so stressed about them…"

"But isn't that weird? When did they stop?"

"A few days ago I think… I mean, they didn't stop all at once. They just started giving up little by little. I noticed it and just let it happen."

"Well that's convenient." Grace said.

"It must be because they realized the ball was just around the corner and they were spending time with me instead of figuring out who would take them or whatever."

"That sounds plausible I guess… Do you think they will bother you after the ball though?"

"Oh, I didn't really think about that… ugh. Well, if they do I guess I'm gonna have to have the talk I had planned for them."

"You planned a talk? What were you going to say?" Grace finnaly took real interest in the subject.

"Um, I had it planned out. I would call them out, tell them that I didn't really like what they were doing, that they were annoying me and that if they wanted me to tell good things about them to Sirius they were just wasting their time… Something like that."

"Harsh!" Tom said.

"Well it is the truth so if it comes to that, I'm going to say it."

"And I wish you good luck with that, but really Cass if it's not about the fan girls why are you so down today?" Grace asked again.

"Yeah, you are acting kind of weird for someone who already has a partner to go to the dance."

The girls wrinkled their eyebrows, both confused at his statement and turned to look at him.

"Weren't you going with that Hufflepuff girl?" Cassie asked.

"Why didn't you tell us you didn't have a date? We could have helped you!" As soon as Grace finished her sentence, she corrected herself. "Well, I could have helped you, Cassie would have said nice things to comfort you."

"I think Lisa told me there are a few girls she knows who still don't have a date bro." Said Josh as he arrived at the group.

"When did you even get here?!" Tom said to Josh. "And you girls got it all wrong! I'm going with Lucy!" He turned to Cassie. "The Hufflepuff girl." Then looked at all of them again. "I mean really? I can manage to get a date to the dance! I'm not that shy!"

They all laughed at the whole confusion, and as Tom started complaining again about his never ending assignments and how he never got much time to spend with his girlfriend, the subject of Cassie's sudden mood change almost died. But Grace was not a friend that let those things pass by, and as soon as she got a chance again later in the conversation she brought it up again.

"So Cass, What's going on?"

"What do you mean Grace?" Josh asked.

"She has been quiet today…" Tom explained as briefly as he could, trying to focus on Cassie's response.

Cassie just looked at each of them, as confused as they were. She never really cared about balls, parties or appearances but ever since that morning she had been thinking about it, and if she would be able to dress up for the ball, if the girls were going to help her. That was not something she was used to feel. She wouldn't describe it as insecurity, not that, but she actually wanted to look good on the night of the ball. That was what was bugging her. She was in a dilemma, with herself and her own beliefs. According to her, she didn't really care what others thought of her, how she looked or the way she acted in general, but then again, why did she want to look good for the ball? Why did she feel so nervous as the time passed by? Those were questions she had on her head the whole day, and she didn't really want to share this with her friends right now. But then again, these were her friends, who had been with her ever since her first year. Who shared everything about their own lifes and insecurities with her as well…  
After realizing that she decided to tell them everything that was going on inside her head, trying to explain it all as best as she could.

"Oh girl! You're not contradicting yourself Cass!" Josh said. "You're nervous, I assume, because this is the first time you're really going to one of these things."

"Cassie, who do you want to dress up to?" Asked Grace.

"What do you mean?" Asked Cassie.

"I meant what I asked! Who are you dressing up to?"

"I don't know?!" Cassie said confused.

"The answer is for you silly! I mean, do you paint your nails because you like it or because other people think it's pretty?"

"Because I like it…"

"Exactly! I think you just got confused because you emotions overlapped. You are nervous for one reason, and you want to dress up because of another." Grace explained. Josh nodded and Tom just looked awkward with that whole conversation.

"You see Cass, we can't always see everything as black or white, we have to try and find the gray in between you know what I mean? People are complicated… Sometimes they are too complicated, sometimes less… But they will always be complicated, that's for sure."

"The thing about you Cass is that in your mind, dressing up is for people who care about others opinions… but it's not always like that. And the funny thing about it is that you're an example of why it isn't."

Cassie looked at them a bit confused, waiting for Grace to go on.

"Painting your nails and your hair is changing your appeareance, and to some level it is kind of dressing up… Not really, but anyways. You do that not because of others but because you like it… And you're not the only one. Actually most people are like that, girls especially. I like to use makeup and to put my hair up in different hairstyles. I do it because I like it, I enjoy it and I feel pretty and nice when I go out like that. If I didn't feel nice my day would not be so good… I mean…"

"I think I get it Grace… and now that I think of it… I agree with you guys. I think I've been seeing everything with a biased perception…" They all stood quiet looking at each other until Cassie spoke up again. "I'm actually feeling better now! Thank you so much guys! Who would have known you'd be so wise!" She joked.

"Well, I am a proud seventh year Ravenclaw!" Josh said proudly pointing at his chest.

"And I'm a really wise girl, what can I say." Said Grace.

"I'm just awkward and didn't really add anything important but whatever, I agree with all you guys said." Tom, still a bit flushed after the serious conversation, added.

"Well, I'm actually going to talk to my roomates and ask them to help me tomorrow then!" Cassie said while getting up but then Grace just shouted.

"WHAT?!" Cassie, Josh, Tom and a few Ravenclaws who were seated next to them turned surprised.

"Grace?" Josh asked calmly.

"Cassie, you know very well that I'm in charge of dressing you up! Ever since first year. I know what's the best make up and hairstyle for you! Tomorrow I'll be coming to your dorm so you better open the door and don't you dare betray me!" Grace was usually a very shy girl around others who weren't in her group of friends, and used to act very nervous if she attracted unwanted attention but at that moment even with a few other people looking over and wondering 'what the hell was going on over there', she didn't keep her voice down and ignored everybody. That was enough to convince Cassie that she was serious.

"Okay." Was all Cassie had to say after that. Grace then realized the situation she was in, blushed and sat down while quietly saying "good".

The next day was a normal Saturday, and after her conversation with her friends the previous day Cassie was much calmer and excited for the event. Sirius had told her to meet him at the common room at around seven o'clock. So she had plenty of time to just enjoy her afternoon… Or so she thought. Right after lunch she went to the dorm to take a nap and witnessed something she wasn't prepared to see. It looked like a tornado had just passed by the room and her roomates were running around putting things in places and just making the mess even bigger.

"What the hell is going on here?" Cassie asked as she tried to find a place to sit on her bed.

"We are getting ready to get ready!" Said Marlene.

"But you're making a mess!"

"It's because we're trying things on as well." Alice said while checking herself in the mirror. She was wearing a different dress than the one she had for the ball.

"What? But didn't you guys already have your dresses planned like a week ago?"

"Yes, but we like to always have a second option just in case!" Said Marlene.

"They do, actually..." Lily said as she put a few makeup brushes over the nightstand. "I'm just trying to organize the mess they're making and put all the makeup we're going to need over here." She pointed at her nightstand.

"I'll help you with that." Cass said as she joined Lily.

"Cassie we still haven't seen your dress…" Alice turned to look at the pair as they picked up a bunch of clothes from the ground.

Honestly, the whole mess didn't even make sense, half of the clothes weren't even dresses but actually daily clothes. It just looked like the dresses they were going to use were at the end of their luggage, they just got lazy and threw everything that wasn't a dress at the room and took what was left to try on.

"If you want to take a look it's inside my luggage." Cassie answered.

Marlene and Alice opened her bag and took out the dress. It was just as she had described it, a simple black dress. Perfect for her in her opinion. Since it was black it would go with anything and that saved her the time of trying to think of things that would match with it. And the most important detail, was that it had sparkles in it which was another thing that Cassie loved: sparkling things. Therefore, the dress was just perfect for her.

"Cassie this is so cute! I love it" Alice said holding it out in the mirror.

"You said it was just a plain dress but it is stunning!" Marlene added.

Lily just agreed with them. "I'm already picturing the perfect hairstyle to go with that dress!" She said while she squinted her eyes looking at Cassie's hair and the dress.

"Actually Lily, Grace is coming over to help me out with that… She kind of made me promise her that she would be the one taking care of me… But thanks anyway." She looked a bit apologetic at the girl. Lily just shrugged.

"Even better! Maybe she can help me as well. More help is always welcome you know? By the way, let's finish cleaning up this mess!" Lily said while picking up a t-shirt from the ground. "And you two better help now! You've already tried everything on, so let's get moving!"

"Girls, I really want to take a nap right now… I mean, it's only two o'clock."

"Cassie! We girls need to help each other! We are four girls here who need to get ready by seven!" Marlene said.

"We have like five hours 'till then…" Cassie complained.

"What time is it again?" Lily asked.

"Two o'clock." Cassie repeated.

"Okay, you can sleep, but we will start everything in an hour!" Alice concluded.

Cassie didn't even say anything else, she just laid on her bed and closed her eyes trying to enjoy as much as she could of her napping time. And it looked like as soon as she closed her eyes, the girls were calling her again.

"It's three o'clock! Let's start!"

* * *

 **Hey guys... It's been a while. A very long while. I'm not even sure if you guys remember this story but hey, I'm back. ehe**

 **Sorry for the super long chapter, but I was trying to put everything before the ball in here already so I can get to that on the next chapter; Also I have a computer now and that made it easier to write and made me go overboard with the size of the chapter.**

 **Anywaays, since I came back after a long time I was kinda lost as to where I had stopped the story and as I was reading it so I wouldn't repeat anything that had already happened I saw I feel mistakes I made. I'll try and fix them as soon as I can. And that's all for now.**


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